On the Job 

Sheriffs are responsible for issuing, renewing, denying, suspending, and revoking Ohioans’ concealed carry licenses. They report these statistics quarterly to the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission, part of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. The office recently issued the 2010 annual report related to the state’s concealed handgun law. Here are some highlights:

Ohio sheriffs issued 60,881 regular concealed carry permits in 2010, including 47,337 new licenses and 13,544 renewal licenses.

By Kathleen Nichols

With a new school year under way, criminal justice professionals are sure to receive calls from parents and school officials seeking assistance with technology misuse incidents such as cyberbullying and sexting. In responding, it is important to offer substantive advice and assistance, even though many such cases never escalate to a criminal level.

Representatives of eight states took part in the Ohio Attorney General’s Interstate Prescription Drug Abuse Summit this past fall to share strategies for fighting the epidemic and foster collaboration.

Ohio law now requires the collection of a DNA specimen from all adult felony arrestees. Here are some resources the Attorney General’s Office provides to help law enforcement agencies comply with the new law, which took full effect July 1:

Dozens of law enforcement resources are available on the Ohio Attorney General’s website. Here is a recap of the most popular available at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/LawEnforcementServices:

We provide certain core services — grants, victim compensation, and education and training programs — and we want to make sure those programs aren’t working in silos. For example, our compensation unit noticed an increased number of claims for a particular type of crime.

At the direction of the Attorney General, the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (OPOTA) is stepping up regional and online offerings to help law enforcement agencies cope with limited training and travel budgets.

OPOTA offered 110 regional trainings to about 5,300 attendees last year. Executive Director Bob Fiatal wants to double that in 2011. And in June, the academy attracted about 300 registrants for its first two webinars, a training option Fiatal expects to offer with increasing frequency.